Half of the public money funding races for Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, is concentrated in just 7% of the candidates. The finding comes from an analysis by Folha de S.Paulo of the partial campaign finance reports filed with the TSE, the electoral court that runs Brazilian elections. The filing deadline closed on Sunday (13), less than three weeks before the first round of the 2026 elections.
The gap between campaigns is wide. The 7,700 candidates running for federal deputy received R$ 2.76 billion (about 470 million dollars) in public funds routed through their parties. Only 579 of them (7.4%) took in more than R$ 1.58 million each, half of the R$ 3.17 million spending cap for the office. Together, this small group controls R$ 1.36 billion, nearly half of all the money distributed in the race.
The same pattern shows up in the state legislature races. Among the 11,700 candidates for state and district deputy, R$ 1.1 billion was distributed. Only 388 of them (3%) received more than R$ 635,000, half of the R$ 1.27 million cap for those offices, according to Folha.
The weight of public money
Public money has dominated Brazilian campaign finance since corporate donations were banned in 2015. In this election, parties control R$ 4.96 billion from the Special Campaign Financing Fund, a pool of federal money known as the electoral fund, plus allocations from the party fund, which can also be spent on campaigns. A survey by the platform 72Horas, published by Congresso em Foco, shows the scale: by September 3, campaigns had declared R$ 3.38 billion, and 93% of it came from the two public funds.
Most candidates sit far from that money. In the same survey, 2,975 candidates for the Chamber, 38% of the total, had reported no revenue at all by September 3, and across all races 45% of candidacies were in that position. The news outlet Sul21, which examined party transfers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, found the same pattern: parties concentrate most resources on reelection bids and familiar names such as former mayors and former lawmakers. The concentration reaches the parties too. The PL, PT, PSD, PP and União Brasil together held R$ 2.13 billion, 63% of everything declared.
The next date is the ballot box. The first round is scheduled for October 4. Once the vote is over, campaigns must file their final reports with the electoral court, when the full picture of the fund's distribution can be checked.